Religious Studies 1028G

Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospels

This is a half year essay course in religious studies offered by Brescia University College. As a sidenote, you are allowed to take courses at affiliate colleges if you are a main campus student though there is a limit to how many you can take. You can visit the UWO Academic Calendar for more information.

Lectures and Content

The lectures are twice a week at Brescia University College. The course introduces the New Testament gospels with an emphasis on the canonical gospels (those considered as authoritative Scripture). Dr. Theresa O’Donovan teaches this course. Religious studies 2227G is exactly the same as 1028G, with the exception of the assignments and weight given to each evaluation. As the class is relatively small (20-30 people), there are often class discussions and small group discussions on the material. In the first term, introduction of the Bible and the historical context of the gospels is presented followed by the study of the Gospel of Mark and Matthew. In the second half of the course, the Gospel of Luke, John, and Acts of the Apostles are studied. Also, there are also a couple lectures at the end of the semester that focus on the non-canonical gospels (e.g. the Gospel of Thomas) and the historicity of Jesus. The content is generally presented from a liberal catholic perspective with some emphasis on women in the gospels.

Evaluations

Article Review (15%)

The article review involves finding a paper on contemporary New Testament scholarship and analyzing it. Although it is a relatively short piece, in depth summary, analysis and reflection is expected.

Presentation and Paper (25%)

At the beginning of the semester, students will be asked to form groups and prepare a presentation and paper on a topic of interest. The presentations usually last 15-20 minutes and include a Powerpoint presentation. Scholarly, and creative presentations are encouraged. Facilitating a class discussion on the presentation topic is also important.

Midterm and Final (25% and 35% respectively)

Both exams feature a few main sections. The first part deals with definitions and significance of a particular term from New Testament studies. This is followed by longer content questions with multiple parts and a comparison essay.

Exam Preparation

The most important advice I can give is to make sure you have the big picture. You have to know the differences between all the 4 gospels (e.g. authorship, sources, themes etc.). I would suggest reviewing lecture notes and preparing your answers to content and essay questions beforehand. It is also very important to go through the list of terms that Dr. O’Donovan provides because these terms will come up on the exam.

Reflection

I took this course because I was interested in taking a religious studies course and studying the gospels was a topic of personal interest.

Although it is a first year course and Dr. O’Donovan does make sure everyone understands before she moves onto a new topic, this is by no means a bird course. Dr. O’Donovan will usually have something memorable to say about a particular event the class is studying and she always builds on the previous knowledge you know to give you the big picture of things. As it is an essay course, the assignments do take a lot of time to prepare. Moreover, Dr. O’Donovan expects high quality analysis and detailed reflection in presentations and assignments. Overall, I found Dr. O’Donovan to be an effective teacher who also has high expectations for students.

To those unfamiliar with the New Testament or the Gospels, the course could be a good way to learn more about the subject in a smaller class setting. This was one of the only courses where I had the opportunity to share what I thought about a particular topic or talk with my classmates about lecture material during class and I really enjoyed that. However, Dr. O’Donovan rarely awards marks above 85 so if you are just looking for an easy “bird” course (if there is such a thing), I would not recommend this course. However, if you’re interested in the New Testament gospels and you have strong analytical and writing skills, I would recommend this course. There are also other options for religious studies courses. Huron University College offers a couple theological courses from an Anglican perspective.

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